The world's first coal to liquid production line is a success.
Shenhua has begun a new trial operation of turning coal to oil. It plans to operate for 1,000 hours. It has so far produced tens of thousand tons of fuel. This means the world's first coal to liquid production line is a success.
The first trial operation was held at the end of last year, and lasted for more than 300 hours. It tested the whole process. After some improvements, the second trial operation began at the end of August.
Zhang Wei, Official of Shenhua Coal Liquefaction Corp. Ltd. said "So far the two trial operations have produced 18 thousand tons of diesel, 8 thousand tons of naphtha and more than one thousand tons of liquefied petroleum gas."
In 2005, Shenhua's coal to liquid project was the only commercial project of this kind the country had approved. According to its plan, production volume will reach 5 million tons a year. The current trial will convert 3.5 tons of coal into more than one ton of liquid.
Zhang Jiming, GM of Shenhua Coal Liquefaction Corp. Ltd. said "We want to operate for 1000 hours to test its performance. In the meantime, we need to collect data to calculate how much liquid we get from how much coal. Then we will know the economic value of this machine. For example, we will work out how much coal we need to produce one barrel of oil. Using current oil prices, we can calculate how much money we can earn from the coal. "
Zhang Yuzhuo, GM of Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd. said "The competitiveness is decided by the cost. The international oil price fluctuates, so three factors influence the cost of the coal to liquid project. First is investment, second is material price, or coal price, and third is labor cost. Combining the three elements together, we are confident, the current cost of our project is less than 40 US dollars per barrel."
Compared to the current international oil price of 70 US dollars, the potential profit for the project is obvious. Besides, the conversion rate from coal to oil is nearly 60 percent, higher than that in other industries.
Editor: Xiong Qu | Source: CCTV.com
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